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Disgusting Rape Torture in West Virginia

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Woman's Ordeal in W. Va. Shed, Described As Week of Torture, Leads to Hate Crime Investigation

09-12-2007 8:22 AM

By JOHN RABY, Associated Press Writer

BIG CREEK, W.Va. (Associated Press) -- Inside a shed on a remote hillside of this coalfield community, authorities say a young black woman was tortured for days, sexually assaulted, beaten and forced to eat rat droppings.

Her captors, all of them white, choked her with a cable cord and stabbed her in the leg while calling her a racial slur, poured hot water over her and made her drink from a toilet, according to criminal complaints.

It wasn't until an anonymous tip led Logan County Sheriff's deputies to the property on Saturday that her ordeal ended and she was able to limp to safety, arms outstretched as she cried, "Help me!"

"I don't understand such a horrific crime being committed here," said Johnny Meade, pastor of the community's Apostolic Church of God in the Name of Christ Jesus.

The FBI is now looking into possible civil rights violations, agency spokesman Bill Crowley said, authorities in West Virginia said they were investigating the case as a possible hate crime.

At one point, an assailant cut the woman's ankle with a knife and used the N-word in telling her she was victimized because she is black, authorities said. They said the young was also forced to eat dog feces.

Investigators are still trying to determine how the woman ended up at the property and whether she knew any of the six people arrested or two others, suspected of driving her to the home, who are being sought, said Logan County Chief Sheriff's Deputy V.K. Dingess.

Police tape now surrounds the entrances to the beige-and-brown mobile home where Megan Williams, 20, was found. An extension cord runs from the home to the cramped shed, which authorities say she was held in with a portable stereo, a locker and a power saw.

The Associated Press generally does not identify suspected victims of sexual assault, but Williams and her mother agreed to release her name. Carmen Williams said she wanted people to know what her daughter endured.

"I don't understand a human being doing another human being the way they did my daughter," Carmen Williams said Tuesday from her daughter's hospital room. "I didn't know there were people like that out here."

The suspects in the case have previous arrest records going back several years, according to records from Logan County Magistrate Court. Logan County Prosecutor Brian Abraham said, "I have some familiarity with all those individuals."

Since 1991, police have filed 108 criminal charges against the six. Frankie Brewster, 49, faced the most serious charges among them. Karen Burton, 46, of Chapmanville had the most charges in all, with 33; and her daughter, Alisha Burton, 23, had 20.

Brewster, who owns the Big Creek mobile home, was charged in 1994 with first-degree murder, but pleaded guilty to lesser charges of manslaughter and wanton endangerment. She was released from prison in 2000 after serving five years in the death of 84-year-old Polly T. Ferrell, court records show.

In the Williams case, Brewster was charged with kidnapping, sexual assault, malicious wounding and giving false information during a felony investigation.

Brewster's son, Bobby R. Brewster, 24, also of Big Creek, was charged with kidnapping, sexual assault, malicious wounding and assault during the commission of a felony.

Danny J. Combs, 20, of Harts, was charged with sexual assault and malicious wounding.

Karen Burton was charged with malicious wounding, battery and assault during the commission of a felony.

Alisha Burton and George A. Messer, 27, of Chapmanville, were charged with assault during the commission of a felony and battery. In May, Alisha Burton was accused of striking Messer with a shovel and smashing the window of a woman's car. The charges are pending.

All six remained in custody Wednesday in lieu of $100,000 bail each.

Public Defender Dwyane Adkins, appointed to represent Bobby Brewster, declined to comment on the case. The other defendants' court-appointed lawyers were either in hearings or did not immediately return telephone calls Wednesday.

The home at Big Creek is quiet now. Newborn pups sleep in the entryway to the small shed, their mother protectively barking at approaching strangers.

Megan Williams, her right arm in a cast, may be well enough to leave the hospital within a few days, her mother said.

"I just want my daughter to be well and recover," Carmen Williams said. "I know the Lord can do anything."

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W.Va. Torture Victim Knew at Least 1 Suspect Accused in Week of Abuse, Prosecutor Says

09-12-2007 10:01 AM

By JOHN RABY, Associated Press Writer

BIG CREEK, W.Va. (Associated Press) -- A young black woman who authorities say was tortured for days at a remote hillside home, sexually assaulted and forced to eat rat droppings was not a random target, the county prosectutor said Wednesday.

One of the six suspects arrested in the case, Bobby Brewster, had a previous relationship with the victim, Logan County Prosecutor Brian Abraham told The Associated Press. He said Brewster had been charged in July with domestic battery and assault after a domestic dispute involving the same woman.

"She obviously had some sort of social relationship," Abraham said. "That is based on the fact that she was present at his residence on a prior date."

Megan Williams, 20, was found beaten and bruised at Brewster's mother's home in rural Big Creek on Saturday.

Abraham said he plans to pursue kidnapping charges against the suspects, and the FBI is looking into possible civil rights violations.

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This stuff happens all the time at the point that people sees it as a banality. This ferocious act will stir some emotional buhaha for some week after which we will forget without the society do something against this. You know, on the long term the society will treat her like a scum. She is a raped woman and on the top of it she is black. It happened much to often to be different this time. As for the suspects if they were to be convicted beyond any reasonable doubt I would do to them what they have done to that girl. Actually even worse.

Edited by liberty
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Guest Laurent.
This stuff happens all the time at the point that people sees it as a banality. This ferocious act will stir some emotional buhaha for some week after which we will forget without the society do something against this. You know, on the long term the society will treat her like a scum. She is a raped woman and on the top of it she is black. It happened much to often to be different this time. As for the suspects if they were to be convicted beyond any reasonable doubt I would do to them what they have done to that girl. Actually even worse.

I absolutely agree with most of you post... but let's calm down for a bit. As terrible as this crime was... I don't think anyone deserves to be treated as the victim was in this case. Violence and rape should not be considered right in any case at all. If we decided to actually avenge crimes eye for eye and tooth for tooth we would all be criminals. Having an excuse to abuse of someone doesn't make it right.

I think that the only right punishment for criminals like them is a life sentence in jail. As long as they are not in our society anymore I don't see why I should care what happens to them. I just think as long as we make sure they won't cause anymore pain or trouble, we don't have to act like animals.

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"I think that the only right punishment for criminals like them is a life sentence in jail. As long as they are not in our society anymore I don't see why I should care what happens to them. I just think as long as we make sure they won't cause anymore pain or trouble, we don't have to act like animals."

A life sentence in a prison does cost society. First, there is the cost=food, cable TV, Internet, public defenders fees for appeals, air conditioning, medical care etc. Also, some inmates make those who are getting out of prison "better criminals". In other words, these lifers can add to our crime levels by training lesser criminals how to do more harm when THEY get out. They can also hook up these short timers with criminal friends that are on the outside of prison life. And last, letting scumbags like this live shows the criminals that our culture does not have the will to really punish criminals. If you won't use capital punishment, you are just as likely to give a rapist only two years for their crime, or just as likely to give a child molester probation. It sets the standard of punishment lower for all the other crimes. You don't have to agree with all of my points to admit that putting someone in prison for life is not cost free for a society.

Sentencing a person to a life of watching TV, reading books, writing love letters to their sick fans etc. does not seem right to me.

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Also, some inmates make those who are getting out of prison "better criminals"

You make me think of "The Thin White Line".

You don't have to agree with all of my points to admit that putting someone in prison for life is not cost free for a society.

Your absolutely right. As I've said many times, in many places, to many people, the whole system needs to be thrown out and start over.....but that's not going to happen without some kind of revolution. :death:

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